Meet the Lunatics Who Run Your Kids' Sports Leagues

Book excerpt: There are approximately 40 million kids currently playing organized sports in the United States. While most of them play the games for fun, many of their parents have a win at all costs mentality. Dad coaches scream at their children when they boot grounders, parents blow thousands of dollars on personal trainers for their little athletes, and mothers yell insults at players on opposing teams. Such parents deserve a good mocking, and "Meet the Lunatics Who Run Your Kids' Sports Leagues" does just that in a fun way that will cause parents to laugh at their own over the top behavior. The author, Jack Malley, a long time dad coach, acknowledges that he has also lost sight of reality on occasion while coaching his kids' teams, and provides humorous personal anecdotes from his many years in the kids sports scene. In addition, Jack gives readers the scoop on the dicey issues that sports parents inevitably face including coach nepotism, travel team elitism, "other parent" conflicts, early specialization, the political correctness that pervades youth sports, and the high school revisited culture that tends to emerge in the sports parent community. "Meet the Lunatics Who Run Your Kids' Sports Leagues" provides a light hearted look at the kids sports environment, and at the same time alerts the reader to real issues that youth sports administrators must address. For this reason, Jack Malley's take on the wacky world of kids sports is a must read for anybody with even a passing interest in the youth sports scene.